Chapter 3 Summary

Chapter 3:Understanding the Diverse Educational Strengths and Challenges of Students Who Challenge Schools:

Resources:

1) www.hcsm.org this is a great website that provides a variety or helpful resources to families who may be looking for health services. This would be a great resource to offer to families who may have just moved to the area and need to make contact with some valuable health resources.

2) http://www.migrantsupport.eu/ This is such a great resource to give to migrant working families. It tells them of their rights and gives them helpful contacts to help them integrate themselves into society.

3) http://www.naehcy.org/facts.html This is an extremely valuable resource to have on the education of homeless children and their families.

· Children represent the fastest growing poverty group. 20% of US children are poverty stricken. These rates are higher for children with disabilities.

· Urban poor children may live in run down housing and be exposed to lead poisoning, which causes learning and behavioral difficulties, stunted growth, and hearing loss

· Homeless children do not have a permanent residence. 2% of children are likely to become homeless during the school year.

· McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act gives homeless children the right to a free public education in a mainstream school environment and seeks to help limit barriers to their school attendance.

· Rural Poverty rural school districts serve a greater number of students living in poverty than nonrural school districts. Rural school districts also serve more students with disabilities in gen ed classrooms as well as a growing number of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

· Children of Migrant workers often move around a lot so it is hard for them to get aquainted with the classroom environment. Things to help them: provide them with a welcoming classroom environment; focus on their strengthes; reach out to their families; when they move again, provide the family with a portfolio of the child’s work so they can give it to the child’s next teacher.

· Remember to hold all students to high standards, be respectful and accepting of their backgrounds, diversify the curriculum you use to meet the cultural and linguistic needs.

· Wealthy children can also be affected. Sometimes these children struggle to perceive things realistically.

· Bilingual children may have trouble adjusting to the classroom setting, but it important that they not be put in special ed classes due to this. They may resemble similar problems as a child who needs special ed, but there are several ways to identify whether it is necessary for them.

· Children will come from a variety of different family dynamics so its necessary to be sensitive to this. Some may be adopted, foster care, single parent family, extended family mambers may take care of the children, Gay or Lesbian parents etc. Each child is special no matter what their family dynamic is like, and the teacher must focus on their strengths. The teacher must try to eliminate discrimination or Bias’s from the classroom.

· Be sensitive to a child’s linguistic and cultural background.